One day Bubba Cunningham was going to Kansas. The next day the rising star in athletic director circles receivedan extension at Tulsa.

A few folks might recall Cunningham was a finalist for Colorado State’s AD opening in the summer of 2001. At the time, he was an assistant at Notre Dame. He came across as very personable, grounded and motivated.

No one cared about my vote. Some thought that coming from Notre Dame he couldn’t relate to Colorado State’s marketing and fund raising challenges. Others believed he’d continue the chain of young AD prospects using Fort Collins as a stepping stone.

CSU’s job went to Jeff Hathaway, then the No. 2 man at UConn. The Rams had a nice two-year run that included two bowls, the 2002 MWC football title and a surprise trip to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The Hughes Stadium expansion and upgrade were announced.

Hathaway was gone before anyone here could figure out how to spell Connecticut. His former boss, Lew Perkins, moved on to Kansas instead of remaining at UConn until retirement. Hathaway caught the next flight back to Hartford.

Ironically, Kansas has the opening because Perkins stepped down following a series of turbulent events in the department.

According to Rivals.com, Willingham has made official visits to Arizona State and Washington. Willingham was quoted as saying he might visit Texas A&M and Central Florida in January but isn’t sure if he will. His offer list also includes CU, Oregon and Boise State.

Colorado assistant sports information director Troy Andre has a fun fact regarding the CU women’s basketball team playing this weekend at Southern Cal’s “Women of Troy Tournament” in Los Angeles that also includes San Diego State and Dayton.

Three of the four head coaches in the tournament have direct CU connections. And all four have connections to the state of Colorado.

CU coach Linda Lappe played for the Buffaloes, as most know. Current Dayton coach Jim Jabir was a CU assistant coach under Ceal Barry during Lappe’s senior season (2002-03). San Diego State coach Beth Burns served as a CU assistant during Barry’s first four seasons (1983-88) in Boulder.

And USC coach Michael Cooper is a former Denver Nuggets assistant coach and even took over as interim coach when future CU men’s coach Jeff Bzdelik was fired by the Nuggets.

Yes, it’s a small world.

Especially, it seems, in coaching circles.

Strong field in the tournament, by the way, and Saturday’s 5:30 opener against USC will be a difficult test for the Buffs (7-2). The Trojans (5-3) has two victories over top-25 teams — then No. 22 Gonzaga and then No. 17 Georgia.